


Disaster

by DrabblingSparks (ingenious_spark)



Series: Ficlet February 2021 [5]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, I mean remake is already divergent what's a little more, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, M/M, Post-Sector 7 Plate Drop (Compilation of FFVII), Prompt Fic, Tifa and Barret are also here, Zack Fair Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29236290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ingenious_spark/pseuds/DrabblingSparks
Summary: Zack never expected to survive the wastes outside Midgar. But he did, and there's more disasters in store, starting with the fall of the Sector 7 Plate.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Series: Ficlet February 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139036
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24
Collections: February Ficlet Challenge 2021: Apocalypse No





	Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> Rolling with howeverthefuck Zack is supposed to have survived in the Remake.

It feels a little like the end of the world, Zack reflects, plunging into another burning, broken building. He's got a scarf wrapped around his face to keep out the smoke and he pulls people and the occasional animal out of harm's way, into the streets. Not that the streets are much safer, but there's already people venturing into the wreckage, redirecting folks to Sectors Six and Eight. 

This used to be the top of the Plate, before they sent it hurtling to the bottom. Zack doesn't even want to think of what happened to the Sector 7 slums, below the falling plate. Thinking about it just sends yawning horror through the back of his mind. 

They're already saying Avalanche did this, but Zack knows better. 

ShinRa decided to clean house. Decided all these people living their little, insignificant lives were collateral that ShinRa was willing to sacrifice. 

It's what they do, after all. Sacrifice innocents to fuel whatever mad schemes they're plotting out this time. 

Zack pulls out more people, and hears the faint sounds of fighting. Is ShinRa trying to take out the survivors? That's… more effort than he thought they'd expend. He scales a piece of rubble as high as he can get, scanning in the direction he thinks the sound is coming from. He sees a dim blue shimmer of magic and squints through the haze of dust and smoke and smog. A faint flash of gold makes his heart skip a beat. Spiky blond hair, a flash of a long, wide blade swung with surprising skill. 

Cloud! Can he get over there in time? Zack leaps for the next highest bit of rubble and channels his inner squirrel, climbing for all he's worth. Hopefully Cloud will be delayed enough by the fighting that Zack can catch up! A surprising spark of hope ignites in his heart, propelling him forward. He'd thought Cloud had survived, given Buster was gone when he woke. He'd been glad Cloud had gone, and deeply surprised when he woke, perfectly healed. Zack should be dead, with the amount of bullets he'd taken. Still, he's not one to look a gift Chocobo in the mouth. Those fuckers bite. 

He vaults upward and sees a burly black man fall, some kind of broken grappling gun falling away. Zack uses his own momentum and the stupid amount of strength and acrobatics gifted him from the SOLDIER program to launch the man to safety, landing feet first against another piece of rubble and launching up to roll into a landing. He's going to be feeling all of that later, but what matters is that the black man is fine and Zack's up here. Cloud is also landing. Not rolling out of the impact for some reason. His ankles are gonna hate him later, what the hell. 

"Cloud," he breathes out his relief, gathering his smaller friend - and whoops, the woman he was standing beside - into a bone-creaking hug. The woman squeaks. Whoops. Cloud is weirdly stiff in his arms, so he releases him, ducking to look the younger man in the eye. "Guess what, Chocobo-head, not dead after all." He says warmly, and frowns when Cloud clutches his head. "Ah. Mako still screwing you up? Not surprising." He sighs. 

"Mako…?" the woman asks, pretty burgundy eyes wide. 

"Yeah, looks like he hasn't quite shaken the Mako poisoning. We were… separated. I was taking care of him. Zack Fair." Cloud was clutching Zack's wrist now, and while he was making the bones in there grind a little, Zack was happy to be his touchstone. Happy the younger man seemed to have clawed his way out of the worst of the poisoning.  


"Save it, people, we got company!" The other man roars, and Zack pulls out the broadsword he'd stolen off a SOLDIER Third, twirling it in hand as he turns to face the robot. Oh yeah, he can take this. He can take on the whole goddamn world now.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the LLF Comment Project, which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * Constructive criticism
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
>   * Comments not in English
> 

> 
> LLF Comment Builder
> 
> This author replies to comments. It might take a few days/weeks depending on how busy I am, but you will receive a reply. If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will respond only with an emoji! I will respond only because I have some compulsive tendencies towards replying to comments.


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